WHALING IN THE NORTH.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12724, 21 February 1910, Page 4

WHALING IN THE NORTH.

la the vicinity of Cape Brett, which part of the New Zealand coast is a regular calling-place for the monsters of the deep when making a passage to tho breeding grounds at Norfolk Islands, hardy men assemble "to intercept them on their way. The wJiale swims leisurely at a speed of four or live knots an Jiour, with its huge mouth open, as is its manner of catching tho hsh upon which it lives, and hugs the coast as it moves in and out of the deep channels among the rocks. A common report, and on© credited by a large majority of people is, that the whale comes close to the shore in order to rid itself, of the barnacles that accumulate on the lower part of its body by rubbing against rock. This is quite erroneous (says the "New Zealand Herald") for no whale would dare to" touch, a rock if it could possibly avoid it. Just imagine the tremendous, weight of a whale with its onward movement bumping against a rock. It would probably be gashed, and get such a shock that it would instantly swing its inontrous head seaward .again, and, with a mighty strike from its powerful tail, with the hope of beating off its supposed assailant, be off to the open sea, where many days would pass before it would again venture near the shore. They merely Jiug the -coast in search of food for it is in rocky passages that small* fish in multitudes abound. The whaler, full of cunning, knows from experience the favourite passages of th© whalej and so stretches a long steel-wire net across the way to check its progress by entanglement. iJie net is made up in sections, each section containing one hundred meshes, composed of six foot pieces of steel wire, shackled together. The sections are then lashed to one another with strong sonnet, and generally six or seven sections comprise the net. Ihe whole net is likewise lashed with ewuiet to a henry steel wire, running from the rocks to an anchored buoy some four or five hundred feet from the shore. At intervals along the wire are moored cork buoys, so that t wW^ ° n **? ] ?° k - ou t m aj' be able to detct any interference with the net bpare. sections are kept handy, and a manned boat ready to repair the net with as little delay as possible arter a whale has passed through and taken a section away with it. Every morning the net is set, and at night it is furled like the sail of a ship, and secured by gaskets. When the whale is kneed it sometimes dies at once, but more often a terrific straggle ensues, as with convulsive movements, the monarch of' the ocean gives up the ghost, and leaves its valuable carcases floating dead upon the water already lashed into foam and dyed with blood. Sometimes- the whale, after being lancet!, sinks on account of all the air having been blown out of the body at death, in such cases the carcase sinks to a considerable depth, and it is impossible to bring it to the surface. A buoy is then attached ; to the harpoon inc. to mark the spot, so that any I drift the carcase might have may be noted. After two or three days' the ! gases generated by the decaying flesh bring it to the , surface, swollen to a gigantic sijie-, with tile tongue and lumps of the fins eaten away by sharks. After being made fast to a stout line the whale is towed ashore, and hauled up on a cradle. The blubber is then cut away and boiled down, and the baleen or whalebone removed from the mouth. The remainder of the carcase is steamed and cooked in a large digester, and then dried and ground into a powder for manure, so that not a vestige of the whale is wasted. Considerable quantities of blubber have been removed from a large whale, which sometimes, yields as much as one hundred and eighty gallons of oil to the ton. Very often tho profits returned are exceptionally high, some hundreds of pounds having been realised in the paspfug of a single whale.